Vehicle frame construction



Jan' 14 2941? 'Y 1'?? KY 'HABE A` 2,228,732

marchav FRAME coNsTRUcTrN Patented Jan. 14, 1941` andeasily made.

Applicants-Namur 16,1938. serirNo. ln-'Germany NovemberiZ, 1937 Anotherobject of this inven a vehicle frame having a stiffcentraljxlongltudinal beam with separate tubulartransverseV beamsattached thereto.

A furtherobject of this invention istoprovide a vehicle frame includinga central V longitudinal beamformedfrom a pair of channeled pressed4material members welded together, said members l being, formed withopenings for control members and having control members connectedthereto before being welded together.v Other objects and advantages-ofthis invention will be apparent from thesingle embodiment thereofhereinafter disclosed in connection Vwith the attached drawing, wherein:1 isaI `Atop plan view of...a. vehicl e 'frame formed in accordance withAthis invention; -j

Fig. 2 is a broken vertical cross-sectional view taken along the lineII-TIIof Fig. 1;y r 1 Fig. 3 is a. transversecrosssectio the lineIII-III of Fig. 1; and

Fig; 4 is a horizontal 'sectionalong the line IV-IV of Fig. 2, butdrawn'to a larger-scale.'

A preferred form of a vehicle frame Vformed in accordance' with myinvention"isjclearlyillustratedin Fig. l, wherein this frame isgenerally composed of acentral longitudinal'beam I made from twochanneled members a, hand transversel frame members 2, 2', 3, and 4. A

If, as herefshown, thevehiclewheels are tobe independently sprung,bearings 5, 5' may bepfrofvided at the outerjends of the tubular members2, 2' andthese bearingssupport the, 'swinging levers 6, 6. The vehiclewheels at the ends' of thesef levers are shown at I and 1 Althoughtlhese 'wheels may be sprung in any manner known" to the art, IA havefoundit convenient to use `torsion rods l,- 8 which maybe wholly en'.

closed and protected within the tubular frame membersi,` 2' andconnected at their outer ends to the swinging levers I, 6". Theotherends'of the` torsion rods will be attached'to the frame in anyproper manner which, however, is not indicated in the drawing.

The'transverse tubular frame member I may Vlikewise be provided withwheel lever supporting bearings l0, III', and a. torsion rod l lpositioned within the transverse tubular member l as the springing meansfor the rear wheels. These wheels are interconnected r ItthroughfstrutsfI2, l2' journaledfinjthe'bear- Y ings I0,f|0 Vatene end, andinterconnected with v the rearswingingrhalf-iaxles I3,- l 3f at theirother fend.l Thewheels |5,.|5 aresuitably mounted' 5 on isf-to provideVsuitable means hereindicated as aclamping surshift guiding leaforbracket 35 240,599- l with the torsion spring.'

at the oute'rrencls of'these axles. v

If l desi-red, the frame 'may vbe formed Aforkedshaped at yone ven'd ofthe vehicle, vhere indicated infthe drawing .asl -therear end, tosupport a transverse tubularA member 23 which is+mounted betweenk thechanneled extension 24,124v forming l the forked 'end'of th'ecentrallongitudinalv beam I. 'Iheyspe'cic means forming such aninterconnectiony is unimportant but has been'illustrated jasbracketmembers 25, l5.`v Another supporting vmotoraand; itsassociateddrive' shoWniat-Ili;v l1'. 'lo The motoris Vsupported at one point by'ashort ved together alongthese rims. yAt lthe forwardled v`of thecompleted ,beam Aa relatively short';trans` versally extendingstrengthening member 3l is added and may -be-attached thereto by.welding. The transverse tubular members 2', 2'-, are Apressed againstvthe member 3| and there Viirmly held-in place relative to ,the centralframemember Ifby rounding shell member 32; 'I'he l member 32 may beinterconnected with member .3l through bolts to `firmly. hold the tubes2 and 24 inplace. l How-V ever, any. suitable .means performing thesame.

function'may be used, as will be `apparentto thoseskilledin this art.The transverse tubular meinber`3 which-may be vprovided for supporting lthe vehicle Vsuperstructure, as for example, the main vehicle body,

is preferably mounted in. a transversef'depression riformed on4 thelupper surface oitv the .upper membera. f ormingi'part' fof .the centrallongitudinal beam I The transversel tubular member 3 may1be held inplace. inthe depressiorri by weldingror other'lsuitable means. Oneof theadvantages of my'fconstruction is that itv maybe vformed with controlopenings and members before assembly ofthe entire frame. As shownV inFig. 1, the central longitudinal beam, particularly the upper channeledmember may beformed -With an opening 34 for the `gear shift and/or handbrake lever. Likewise, agear may be mounted within the channeled membera. The longitudi- At the same time, howevergitheadvantageous nal mayalso be provided with guide open- 'ings Il, Wiormed by punching anddrawingoutwardlya portion of the channeled member a. These guideopenings maybe used for brake cables or the like going to the wheels 1,1', and may be formed with Aa smooth curve in such a manner that thecables will not rub against and be ydamaged by rthe sharp edg."

several advantages over those nowrused in the prior art, particularlywith respect to decreasing',`

the cost of production without -sacricing any,v

strength or rigidity of the ilnal frame as contrasted, for example, with`vthe iframe disclosedin my prior joint Patent 2,133,633. rfThepresentconstruction in which the central longitudinal beam-ls formed from twochanneledparts welded together entirely separately from the transverse'beam members, isrelatively light and can vbe vformed-on relativelysmall and cheap machinery.

construction resulting in a stiii` central member is preserved.v Thefact that the transverse members areiormed separately and attached tothis central longitudinal beam vdoesnot. adversely aifect-the rigidityof the frame as a-,whole.

Y A'notherfeature of my, proposed .construction is that the centrallongitudinal `rbeam vvmember may be li'ormed with integral lcontrolopenings ,30,

40 scribed above will be apparent lto those skilled in this art. Forexample. whilel the transverse frame members have all been-indicated astubular, they may be 'of' any desired 'shapeconsistent with the typeofframe to be formed; Addition- 45 ally, theinvention has been describedin connec- -tion with a. vehicle having independent Wheel suspension;`tl'ie typeoffsuspension used; howf ever, is of no particularimportance. It will, furthermore, beapparentfthat if it is desiredto'place 50 the vehicle engine at the front instead of the rear; myproposed construction may be reversed and obviouslymoditled'to suit-thiscondition; It -is also within the scope of thisinv'entiofn` that themotor may replace' a part" of theicentral 55 longitudinal beam so thatthe transverse beams Vmay be interconnected with the motor housinginstead of the lcentral beam.A *The` particular manner of supporting theengine from the vehicle *frame is likewise unimportant. In some caseslit"comaynotj be desirable or necessary tol have both --of the channeledmembers d and b` extending u pn wardly to'support the engineiblock andin"thos`e s Aonly one of these frame extensinsmnbe o5necessa1 The 4frameconstruction described above has f and mounted on 'members, l'

3. A'veliicle'irame comprising a pair of flanged y `of saidiongitudinsibeam:

-whichsaidlastfrneans comprises a clamping shell Accordingly, I donotintend to limit the' scope t l of this invention to thesingle embodimentdescribed and illustrated but as may be required by the following dIclaim: d l. Avehicle frame comprising a pair of flanged channel-shapedmembers attached together along their :langes to form ahpuowngidicngitudinai A beam.` a iirst separablehollow tubulartransverse beam attached to one end of said rigid beam,

bers near the` other end of the longitudinal beam. 2.,'lfhe combinationyaccording to claim 1, in

combination with a third transverse beam intermediate' saidv ilrst andsecond transverse beams one of said channel-shaped channel-shapedmembers attached together alone 'their ilanges to -form, a hollowlongitudinal beam,

vinl combination I with -hollowltubular wheel 'lever 7 supporting farms, one of' said arms being transversely mountedbetweenA` saidchannelLshaped members through"one"endof thev longitudinal beam, andl`means 'for i releasablyA transverselyr mounting another ofsaidiarms tothe other end 4; The 1 combination according to ciiii 3, in

about said arm.

`5. AV-vehiciegfram comprising @pair of hanged channelshaped membersattached together one above thefother tcpA form a hollow 'longitudinal"beam,`jthe-'upper 'ofvsaid members being formed with a'tr'ansversedepressionin` its top intermedi?V r ate A,the ends ofthelongitudinal'fbeam a ilrsthollow tubular transverse' beam attachedltoone end of said longitudinalbeam,a sendhollow,

ltubular beam extending e transverselyl between the jhollow-shapedmembers near the other end of the rigid beam, andua'third hollow tubularbeam mounted in saldrtransverse depression and rigidly attached to saidupper channel-shaped member. :l 1

6. A vehicle framecomprising'a pair'f flanged channel-shaped memberskiorkedat one end, at-

tached together along their `flanges and Eposi-- tioned one above theother to form ahollow central longitudinal beam withga forked extension,said being formed vwith 1an upper transverse depression, and Yaplurality`of individual [transverse attached to,l said longitudinalA beam,

one vof said transversel beams being t mounted vin said depression'. f

7. A vehicle frame comprisinga'vpadr olf-hanged channel-shaped membersforked at one end, at-'I 'tached together along their anges and.positioned one above the other tofiorm ahollowlcentral d longitudinalbeamwitii 'a forked exnsionanc .60

a plurality of ixidividual",tran'sverse beams at-l tachedtofsaid'longitudinal onevof saidy transverse beams being releasablyattached at "that end of the hollow central'longitudinal beamoppositenierorkedextension.; d, I Y v KARLRABE.VA

and a second hollow tubular beam extending 1,0 transversely between thechannel-shapedmem-

